Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Alpha Rejected His Bride For Me: Kabanata 111 - Kabanata 120

(Lena POV)The air inside the main archway was stagnant, trapped by thick stone walls that had stood for three centuries. The iron gate behind us felt like a tombstone, marking the place where my life as a Lowlander ended and my life as a Silvercrest prisoner, or guest, or ghost, began.Kai leaned against the pillar, the dark wool of his coat blending into the gray granite. He looked exhausted, the adrenaline of the walk finally ebbing away to reveal the hollowed-out expression of a man who had just traded his reputation for a girl who shouldn't be here."I'm sorry," he repeated. The words were quieter this time, almost lost to the wind whistling through the crenellations. "For what that walk just cost you."I looked down at my hands, hidden deep within my sleeves. "You didn't just walk me up a hill, Kai. You walked me through an execution. Did you see Miller? Did you see Mira?""I saw them," he said, finally meeting my eyes. "I sa

(Theo POV)I sat at the long pine table, a mug of cold water in front of me that I hadn't touched in twenty minutes. Curtis was across from me, picking at a splinter on the tabletop with the tip of a pocketknife. Three other guys, Miller, Sam, and Pete, were huddled near the back window, talking in low voices about the patrol shifts at the north boundary.The door banged open. Jake came in, his face flushed, his boots skidding on the grit-covered floorboards. He didn't take off his hat. He walked straight to the table, his chest heaving as he gripped the back of an empty chair."They just went through," Jake said.Curtis stopped picking at the splinter. He didn't look up. "Who went through, Jake?""Lena. And Silvercrest," Jake said. He spat the name like it was grit in his mouth. "Danny saw them at the main gate. He said they walked the whole length of the lane together. Hand in hand. In broad daylight, Curtis. Everyone saw it. Mrs

(Lena POV)He looked at me, then at Sienna, and then his hand dropped from the wall. He stood straight, rolling his shoulders back until the fabric of his dark coat pulled taut across his chest."I will speak with you later," Kai said to Sienna.He didn't look at her when he said it. Sienna didn't move for a long second. She stood with her arms folded, her fingers digging into the silk of her sleeves. She looked at me, simply took a step back, her heels clicking once on the floor, and turned toward the arched window at the end of the hall.Kai didn't wait for her to disappear. He reached out and closed his fingers around my wrist, his grip firm but not bruising. He started walking, pulling me along with him toward the stairwell that led away from the residential corridor.I didn't fight him. I followed. My arm was stiff, my hand hanging limp at my side while he held me. We passed the tall, narrow windows that looked out over the training grounds, but I didn't look at the scouts or the

(Kai POV)I snapped my head around. My shoulder blades hit the stone wall, the contact vibrating up into my skull. Julian was standing at the top of the riser, a stack of vellum folders tucked under his arm, his fingers tapping a rhythmic, nervous beat against the top cover. He didn't look away. He stood there with his glasses catching the flat morning light, his feet planted."What are you doing here, Julian?" I asked.The words came out sharper than I intended, vibrating with the sudden, hot itch under my skin. I stepped away from the wall, my hand dropping to the heavy silver buckle of my belt.Julian didn't flinch. He adjusted the folders, the paper crinkling in the silence. He looked at me, then his gaze slid past my shoulder to where Lena was standing. He didn't acknowledge her with a nod or a word. He just looked back at me, his mouth pressing into a thin, straight line that made the vertical creases around his jaw deepen."

(Lena POV)I looked down, my hands still hovering near the stone wall of the park. A boy, maybe five or six years old, stood on the gravel path. He wore a heavy wool coat with brass buttons that were too big for his small chest, and his hair was a shock of pale blonde that caught the gray light from the clouds. He wasn't looking at my face. He was looking at the pocket of my sweater where the leather pouch of coins made a heavy, rounded bulge."Do you have any candy?" he asked.His voice was high and thin, barely carrying over the sound of the wind in the willow trees. He pointed a small, gloved finger toward a shop window across the street, where jars of bright green and red lozenges were stacked in pyramids behind the glass.I lowered myself onto my knees, the gravel crunching under my weight. The cold of the ground bit through the fabric of my skirt, but the movement felt steadying. I let my hands rest on my thighs. Up close, his eyes